Mary and Joseph :tentative title:
by InChrist-Billios
Summary: COMPLETE: Mary slipped into bed, completely exhausted from her day of work. She fell instantly into sleep, and had a very weird dream, or so she thought. The dream, she realizes, is a startling reality that she has to face and find a way to tell Joseph.
1. Chapter 1

**Happy Christmas, all!**

* * *

"Mary." 

"Mmmf. I told you already, the ketchup is in plain sight," she remarked drowsily, not bothering to open her eyes.

"Mary."

"Whaddya-- AHHH!!"

She suddenly realized that a _male _voice was talking to her. Needless to say, this awakened her thoroughly, provoking the scream.

A tall, imposing man in white was standing next to her bed, looking at her.

"Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

She suddenly realized what was going on.

"Oh... my... wow... AHH!!"

She muffled her shriek, staring at the angel with wide eyes.

"Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"I—uh—no way."

Mary blinked.

"There is no way this is happening. I'm not – wait! I'm not having a – a – baby!! I've never, ah, you know. Joseph and I made a pledge not to--"

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered, trembling in awe of the message. "May it be to me as you have said."

She dropped her head and wrung her hands.

"The Son of God. Oh my. This is... wow. How am I going to tell Joseph?"

The angel didn't answer, and she looked up to find him gone.

* * *

The next morning, Mary woke up to the blaring of her alarm. She groaned and slapped wildly around the sidetable until she hit the snooze button miraculously. She was about to doze off for a few minutes when she remembered the dream. She was suddenly wide awake. Sitting up and brushing her hair out of her face she tried to remember exactly what had happened. _"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." _The voice came crystal clear into her mind. 

"Aunt Beth? No..."

She got out of bed and dressed hurriedly, stopping a moment to put her hands on her stomach before shaking her head.

"It's just a dream. It has to be," she told herself sensibly, looking at her weary refection in the mirror.

"Just a dream."

Still, something nagged at her. It would be so easy to go see if Aunt Beth was pregnant. The thought of it made her giggle. Aunt Beth was fifty and had been declared by doctors years ago unable to have children. There was no way she was pregnant. Still, Mary hadn't heard from her in a while and it would be nice to go visit. She only lived an hour away and Mary didn't have to work today.

"Yes, I'll go visit her. Just to see," Mary said, tying her hair back and grabbing her purse.

"Just to see."


	2. Chapter 2

Two months later...

Joseph waited apprehensively, tapping the steering wheel of his car as he watched Mary approach. She'd sounded almost panicked when she called, and refused to explain why. She just wanted to "talk" she said. She had seemed a little uneasy the last few weeks, but not enough to worry him. He assumed it was work related -- she'd been given more hours lately and was tired and stressed. As a result, he didn't see her a whole lot, but now he wished he'd badgered her a little more. Mary opened the passenger door and slid in, glancing at him only briefly.

"What? No 'Good morning, Joseph,' no kiss on the cheek? Nothing? What's going on? What's wrong?" he asked, frowning a little in worry.

"Drive to the park, Joseph. I need to tell you something, and I want to be there, alright?"

Joseph swallowed and looked over at her. Her face was drawn and she looked almost guilty.

Trying to quell the nervous feeling in his gut, he started the car and drove a silent ten minutes to the beautiful park.

They retraced their normal path and stopped at the bench. She sat down, and he sat too, looking over at her. The feeling in his stomach was intensified as she refused to meet his eyes.

"Joseph, I..."

She bit her lip.

"I... I'm going to... have a baby."

Joseph leaned backwards, unable to breathe. He felt like he'd been hit by a truck. Mary? No. Never. They'd been dating for four years and they'd been engaged almost a year already. She'd never... But obviously...

"It's not what you think."

Joseph looked at her.

"Not what I think? How could it _not _be what I think? Look, don't tell me who the father was please, or I might commit murder."

"Listen to me, Joseph. It's not like that!"

He shut his mouth and listened. He really just wanted to run away. He couldn't believe Mary would do that.

"An... angel came to me two months ago and said I was going to have God's son."

Joseph only stared, open mouthed. Mary continued, blundering through her statement and looking at Joseph pleadingly. He didn't look up.

"I... wasn't quite sure myself, but the doctor confirmed it, Joseph. I'm pregnant."

Mary never lied, but that was impossible. There was no way. She'd obviously kept some side of her personality hidden until now. At least he caught it _before _they were married...

"I'm serious, Joseph. I'm not lying! Look at me!"

He slowly raised his eyes.

She definitely didn't look like she was lying, but what she was suggesting was very impossible.

"And it's not just me, either. Aunt Beth is eight months along, too."

Joseph looked at her incredulously.

"Isn't that the aunt that's fifty years old? There's no way she's having a kid!" he spluttered.

"Tell her that; she's swelled up like a balloon but as good natured as ever. I'm telling you, this is real. It's God's son that I'm going to have."

Joseph clenched his fists.

"Mary, you don't have to tell me something totally far fetched. Weird stuff happens, but at least Aunt Beth is _married_ for goodness' sake! It's not impossible for her. You don't have to do this to me, Mary. Sure, I'm mad, but you know what? I love you anyway. We can do this quietly, we can break off the engagement and you can go marry the father, alright? I think it will be better for us both that way."

"Joseph!"

She looked shocked, and a tear slid down her cheek.

"I'm not lying..."

"I love you, Mary, and I want what's best for you. Come on, I'll take you home. You just relax, I'll take care of everything. I'll make the phone calls and everything, you just concentrate on staying healthy."

He slowly reached for her stomach, letting his forefinger graze her shirt momentarily before drawing it back jerkily. He could imagine the little baby in there now, slowly growing...

Swallowing past the knot of pain in his throat, he quickly composed himself.

"You have two people to worry about now, Mary. Take it easy. Call me if you need me to run you anywhere or anything. I'll -- I'll be here for you if the father doesn't want to have anything to do with you. I still love you, don't forget that."

She nodded, tears streaking her cheeks.

The drive back to her apartment was excruciatingly silent, and whenever Joseph glanced over, Mary's eyes were closed and her lips were moving.

Praying, no doubt. He would be too, if he'd just done that. He couldn't believe it. But there was nothing else to believe. What she said was ludicrous.


	3. Chapter 3

His sleep was restless that night. He was angry at Mary, but he'd prayed for hours after their talk. He'd finally come to the place where he could forgive her.

She'd hurt him deeply, but he couldn't forget the look on her face. She was totally serious.

"Joseph."

"Behh – what?!"

He woke up right away, blinking at the startling white of the man next to his bed.

"Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

Joseph was lost for words not for the first time that day. Before he had recovered adequately, the angel was gone. He knew right away what he had to do.

He scrambled out of bed and flipped on the light, unburying his phone from under a stack of papers. He quickly dialed her number by heart and prayed she'd answer.

She did. On the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mary, it's Joseph."

"Joseph, listen, I'm serious. There really was an angel, and I'm not going crazy! I--"

"Yeah, I know. See, uh, an angel just talked to me too."

There was stunned silence for a moment before an ear piercing shriek broke the silence.

"Then you know! I wasn't lying! I told you, Joseph!"

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm sorry," he said, wincing and rubbing his ear. "You were right, I'm so sorry for ever doubting you."

A little more silence, followed by a thick sounding,

"I forgive you, Joseph. We're still getting married, right?" and a loud sniffle.

"Yes, if you want to marry me..."

"Of course I do! I can't blame you for not believing me. It's kinda... far out."

"But I should have believed you."

"It's alright, I forgive you."

"But I shouldn't have done it."

"Joseph..."

"I can't believe I actually thought--"

"JOSEPH! I forgive you! It's fine, I understand. Go back to sleep, it's 4:30 in the morning."

"Are you serious? What are you doing up?"

"I... don't know. I kinda had the feeling you'd call."

Joseph grinned. God was amazing.

"I love you, Mary."

"I love you too, Joseph."

* * *

**--shrug-- So there 'tis. Hope you liked it. It's not my best work by any means, but it was nice to do something different. (For those of you who don't know, I write Fairy Tales and Redwall fanfic, so this is a tad different) Anyway, I ramble. **

**Please REVIEW!**

**Candy canes to reviewers! --waves them temptingly-- **


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